The American Reaction to Richard Cobden: An Economy of Fear Essay

1604 Words7 Pages

Introduction
Though Anglo-American relations are not currently hostile, they were not always this way. This paper will explore the free trade beliefs of Richard Cobden, and show that Americans who rejected his ideas did so out of ignorance and fear. The paper will begin with a description of Cobden’s context and beliefs and then move to an analysis of American Anglophobia and Anglomania and governmental responses to Cobden.
Context
Trade liberalization in Great Britain signaled an era of intense change in the European economy. The document that triggered this change was the Cobden-Chevalier Treaty of 1860. Anglo-French trade antagonisms had reached an agonizing level for the two countries, beginning with the Congress of Vienna and…show more content…

Introduction
Though Anglo-American relations are not currently hostile, they were not always this way. This paper will explore the free trade beliefs of Richard Cobden, and show that Americans who rejected his ideas did so out of ignorance and fear. The paper will begin with a description of Cobden’s context and beliefs and then move to an analysis of American Anglophobia and Anglomania and governmental responses to Cobden.
Context
Trade liberalization in Great Britain signaled an era of intense change in the European economy. The document that triggered this change was the Cobden-Chevalier Treaty of 1860. Anglo-French trade antagonisms had reached an agonizing level for the two countries, beginning with the Congress of Vienna and climaxing with the introduction and eventual repeal of the Corn Laws. For more than 30 years, Great Britain engaged France in tariff wars that only served to limit both countries’ trade potential. Accominotti and Flandreau (2008) describe this as a “period of generalized protectionism” (p. 152).
The economic concept of protectionism dates back to Adam Smith’s idea of comparative and absolute advantage. The country with the ability to produce the same amount of a good or service with fewer resources than another country has the absolute advantage. However, if the other country has a lower opportunity cost of producing that same good or service, they have the comparative advantage. Smith argued that “If a foreign country can supply us with a

The American Economy
Introduction
Throughout American history, the role of the government in the economy has been increasingly brought to the forefront. This is because there are conflicting views about their responsibilities in these areas. As they are one component, that will have an impact on growth and the ability of private enterprises to expand. Yet, limiting their amounts of influence has always been a critical factor with many firms claiming that they can overregulate different areas.…

For over half a century, American manufacturing has dominated the globe. During this
period, many great American businesses and corporations began. Companies like General
Motors, Levi, and Ford became widely known and promoted. American manufacturing became
synonymous with quality, greatness, and reliability. However, manufacturing in the U.S has
started to plummet as the economy has begun this recession. It may seem as if the country that
used to make everything is really on…

The American Economy
The American economy is a vibrant, free-market system that is constantly developing out of the choices and decisions made by millions of citizens who play multiple, often overlapping roles as consumers, producers, investors and voters. The changes in the organization and performances of the manufacturing industry over the last century have helped shape the American economy. The Automotive industry perhaps made the biggest changes to their manufacturing processes. I will…

American Economy in Today’s World
It is often wondered how the superpowers achieved their position of dominance. According to time magazine, to be a superpower, a nation needs to have a strong economy, an overpowering military, immense international political power, and related to this, a strong national ideology. Three of the articles that impacted me the most were: As U.S. economy slows down, Profits Rise in Pressure on U.S. Owned Factories in Mexico Border Zone, and last but not least Poverty…

Introduction
Though Anglo-American relations are not currently hostile, they were not always this way. This paper will explore the free trade beliefs of Richard Cobden, and show that Americans who rejected his ideas did so out of ignorance and fear. The paper will begin with a description of Cobden’s context and beliefs and then move to an analysis of American Anglophobia and Anglomania and governmental responses to Cobden.
Context
Trade liberalization in Great Britain signaled an era of intense…

The American Reaction to Involvement in Vietnam
In the early 60s, most Americans were very ignorant about Vietnam.
They just saw it as a little concern. They were an extremely confident
nation who had never lost a war to date, and whose resources were
limitless. So they naturally assumed that all their weapons and
firepower would ensure victory in a couple of months. Patriotism was
very strong in America at that time. Many people remembered the
McCarthy trials of the…

An American Economy
Globalization is a very pressing issue in the American culture today. Within any economy, globalization will cause many problems while at the same time solving many others. This is true because there are many factors involved with globalization, one of the most important being job outsourcing. While at first glance and from what the media reports, job outsourcing is definitely not healthy for the economy. However on upon closer inspection, the reverse may be true. Job outsourcing…

The American Fear of Being Sued
Something basic has been stolen from American life. We have lost much of our individual freedom due to the theft in our society. Our thieves come in the form of "sue happy" Americans. Doctors are paranoid, teachers are weakened and religious consultation is decreased. You would have to be a fool to say what you really think in the workplace. Increasingly, people believe that they cannot make a difference.
Today, the medical industry has been transformed…

fewer miles per gallon. Americans craved bigger and more powerful cars, so to comply with the car buyers, that is what the automakers built (Surowiecki 25). However, “polls show that, given an option, some three-quarters of them vote for dramatic increases in fuel-economy standards” (Surowiecki 25).
Since there were no fuel economy standards established by the government until 1975, the fuel efficiency of automobiles steadily declined. In the early 1970’s, the average American vehicle got less than…

One of the major issues in our economy is the issue of foreclosure. With our rapidly dropping economy keeping a home is a difficult task for many home owners. Also with the increasing unemployment rates, many people are losing their jobs, and no house payment can be kept up with only an unemployment check. There are many existing ways to decrease the occurrence of foreclosure but also many ideas that have not been heard.
Foreclosure is an unfortunate reoccurring incident that some how some…